How Does It All Come Together? Part One: Not Just Faith, but Faith “In”

Background Passage: Romans 4:1-25; 10:1-13; Hebrews 11:1-12:2
Today’s Focal Passage: Romans 4:1-3, 23-25

1 What then can we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, then he has something to brag about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.

23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Just the other day, I passed a “LOTTO” sign that announced the prize was up to $40 million. I didn’t stop and purchase a lottery ticket but I did spend the next 30 minutes thinking about how I would spend $40 million if I won. I thought about the earthquake in Haiti. I thought about the building fund at my church. I would be lying if I didn’t think about college tuition for two kids (who will one day be in school at the same time) and paying for two weddings (because both of those kids are girls). I thought about a new mini-van. I thought about world hunger and clean water. I also thought about Lottie Moon and international missions; about people groups with no Bible in their language who don’t yet know Christ. My mind bounced in many directions thinking about the difference money can make.

Stop and think for a moment about how many losing lottery tickets there must be for every one winner. Those tickets don’t deliver. A lottery ticket is nothing more than a wasted $1 unless it yields a better return. The only lottery ticket that counts is the one that’s worth something and those are few and far between. We can sincerely hope and believe that our Lotto tickets might one day hold the key to wealth and prosperity, but our faith is only as good as the object on which our faith rests.

Hebrews 11:1 explains that faith is “the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” As the passage for today teaches, Abraham’s faith was not in himself. If it was, a man like Abraham may have had something to brag about. Fortunately for Abraham, and for those of us who like him would put our faith in God, he found something worth believing in. When we place our faith in anything but Christ and Christ alone, we’re playing against the odds with another losing ticket. In Christ, we win.